A Spy's Guide to Santa Fe and Albuquerque

Fun, easy, enjoyable read. Especially neat if you have been to or live in Northern New Mexico

Just when I thought I had read everything about Los Alamos in the 1940's this title pops up and provides a deep dive into more than I could have imagined.

that sent me off to my local library to read some of the suggested Further Reading. It suits both my reading style as well as my husband's and they are very different. I recommend it highly! The author says what is his background and I found that it mattered not what are my / my husband's / the author's own political biases and beliefs. It's local and national history described and you make of it what you will. We both enjoyed!

This book is very well-written and the writer has a great deal of credibility on this topic, given his life-time of service as an officer in the C.I.A. Mr. Held is a highly respected officer in the U.S. intelligence community, and he writes about the fascinating espionage activities which have gone on over the years, in an area of the U.S. that has long been a hot-bed of intelligence activity. So interesting, I couldn't put it down!! If you want to read about the real activities of the intel community, and better understand the inner workings of intel activity in the U.S., this is a book you'll want to read.

Very interesting.... writer didn't write it in a good story format.... somewhat disjointed in writing style.

Did you know that Leon Trotsky's assassination was plotted where the trendy ladies gather today to buy over-priced pottery and turquoise jewelry? YES! Santa Fe, New Mexico.Mr. Held, who has come in from his own particular cold, documents New Mexico's place as a virtual mecca for espionage, largely because it contains the little town that never existed, Los Alamos, where the United States' Manhattan Project led to the construction of the first atomic bomb.His book shows how the Soviet Union, playing both on idealistic politics and venal greed, penetrated the fortress of America's nuclear research again and again, and how there is reason to believe China more recently may have accomplished similar goals.I visited Los Alamos last month primarily as an homage to my favorite physicist, Richard Feynman (whose own books I cannot recommend highly enough.) Planning for that pilgrimage led to Held's book, which offers any visitor a chance to walk in the very footsteps of traitors like Klaus Fuchs.

I have lived in Albuquerque for 20 years and had always heard of the spy related intrigue that surrounded this city and Santa Fe / Los Alamos area during the birth of the atomic bomb. But I never knew so much as I learned when listening to the author actually relate the tale as depicted in his book while being a guest speaker at an annual security event I sponsored. While his audience at the training event was not necessarily "captive", they were most assuredly captivated as Bruce described in person the events depicted in his book about the city that was the long time home of many in the audience with a couple of them having actually known some of the players! The way in which the people, places, and events were described by the author and in the book gave me a feeling of almost being there, especially after taking notes on the locations and homes mentioned and actually going to see them!! For those who have never met Bruce Held and who in all likelihood may never meet him, I wholeheartedly recommend his book if you are looking for tales of "genuine" spys right here in our own town. You will not regret meeting Bruce in person or through reading his book.

This book is a fascinating book that is a full of facts about the Russian spies who met in Santa Fe and Albuquerque during the Cold War to pass on information about the atomic bomb. It is a fast read and a fun read also.